NASA wants a Massively Multiplayer Online Learning Game

NASA has released an RFI to develop a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game that creates interactions that foster the creative and problem solving skills of our youth.  An MMO game is one where players interact with other players instead of computer controlled participants.  Instead of five or ten players, there are hundreds or thousands.  That’s the “massively” part.

This environment could permit students from all over the Internet to simulate a full scale NASA launch complete with separate launch and control centers, and even multiple spacecraft.  In an MMO game, every person visible in the simulation is controlled by an actual person.  This creates a much more dynamic environment because it is much less predictable.

Here is how the RFI describes the game.

A NASA-based MMO built on a game engine that includes powerful physics capabilities could support accurate in-game experimentation and research. It should simulate real NASA engineering and science missions in a medium that is comfortable and familiar to the majority of students in the United States today.

Exciting!